Arizona has 21 federally recognized tribes. Some sources count the Pueblo of Zuni as an Arizona tribe. However, the Pueblo of Zuni lands are primarily in New Mexico, with only a small portion in Arizona. If the Pueblo of Zuni is included there would be 22 tribes.

The state is home to over 294,000 Native Americans. [1] To learn how to get started with American Indian research, find research facilities, and American Indian websites click here.

Current Federally Recognized Tribes

A federally recognized tribe is an American Indian or Alaska Native tribal entity that is recognized as having a government-to-government relationship with the United States, with the responsibilities, powers, limitations, and obligations attached to that designation, and is eligible for funding and services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.[2] The following is a list of the currently federally recognized tribes in the State of Arizona:[3]. The list links go to the pages for the tribe as opposed to reservation links shown below.

Some Historical Tribes and Bands of Arizona

The following list of American Indians who have lived in Arizona has been compiled from older sources, such as Hodge's Handbook of American Indians...[4] and from Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America[5]. Some may simply be variant spellings for the same tribe.

As you can see from the following list, some of the historical names of the tribes have changed and some are no longer in common usage:See also Arizona Indian Tribes

About Reservations

There is a clear distinction between the Indian Tribes and the Indian Reservation System. A federal Indian reservation is an area of land reserved for a tribe or tribes under treaty or other agreement with the United States, executive order, or federal statute or administrative action as permanent tribal homelands, and where the federal government holds title to the land in trust on behalf of the tribe.[6]

From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the American Indian was to confine each tribe to a specific parcel of land called a reservation. Agencies were established on or near each reservation. A government representative, usually called an agent (or superintendent) was assigned to each agency. Their duties included maintaining the peace, making payments to the Native Americans based on the stipulations of the treaties with each tribe, and providing a means of communication between the native population and the federal government.

Sometimes, a single agency had jurisdiction over more than one reservation. And sometimes, if the tribal population and land area required it, an agency may have included sub-agencies.

The boundaries of reservations, over time, have changed. Usually, that means the reservations have been reduced in size. Sometimes, especially during the later policy of "termination," the official status of reservations was ended altogether. Compiling a list of reservations is difficult because several reservations extend into more than one state.

The State of Arizona does not tax Indian lands and Indian owned property on reservations. Incomes of Indians residing on reservations are not taxed by the State if wholly derived from reservation sources. The Federal Government does not exempt individual Indians from income or other federal taxes. Indian people of Arizona are also exempt from state and local sales taxes on consumer goods purchased on the reservation, unless such taxes are imposed by the tribal government. However, the State of Arizona collects taxes from reservation residents on sales of gasoline, electricity, natural gas, and telephone service.[7]

Reservation Map - Arizona - Indian Reservations - Federal Lands and Indian Reservations. by the U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Geological Survey.

Agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Agencies and subagencies were created as administrative offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its predecessors. Their purpose was (and is) to manage Indian affairs with the tribes, to enforce policies, and to assist in maintaining the peace. The names and location of these agencies may have changed, but their purpose remained basically the same. Many of the records of genealogical value were created by these offices.

The following list of agencies that have operated or now exist in Arizona has been compiled from Hill's Office of Indian Affairs...[8], Hill's Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians[9], and others.

A brief history of each agency and an explanation of the availability of at least some records for each are listed on the page for the agency.

Indian Schools

The Office of Indian Affairs (now the Bureau of Indian Affairs) established a network of schools throughout the United States, beginning with Carlisle Indian School, established in 1879. Some of these schools were day schools, usually focusing on Indian children of a single tribe or reservation. Some were boarding schools which served Indian children from a number of tribes and reservations.

In addition, other groups such as various church denominations established schools specifically focusing on American Indian children. (read more...)

The following list of Indian Schools in Washington has been compiled from Hill's Office of Indian Affairs...[10], Hill's Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians[11], and others.

Labriola National American Indian Data Center

The Labriola National American Indian Data Center is a research collection with current and historic information on government, culture, religion and world view, social life and customs, tribal history, and information on individuals from the United States, Canada, Sonora, and Chihuahua, Mexico.

The Labriola Center is located on the second floor of Hayden Library on the Arizona State University Tempe campus.

Northern Arizona University, Cline Library, Special Collections

The Cline Library may have the largest collection of material on Indians of northern Arizona. Check the library catalog at Cline Library Home.

The Doris Duke American Indian Oral History Project

From 1966 to 1972, several universities conducted oral history interviews with Native Americans. The project was funded by Doris Duke, heiress of the Duke tobacco family. The University of Oklahoma was one of the universities that participated in the project. Transcripts] of those interviews are online through the University of Oklahoma in Norman. See American Indian Oral Histories

Maps

Family History Library

Histories of Arizona Indians are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under ARIZONA - MINORITIES, as well as under ARIZONA - NATIVE RACES. Other records of American Indians are listed in the Subject Search of the Family History Library Catalog under the names of the tribes. For a complete list of available records utilize the Family History Library Catalog....search by Tribe and locality

Records of the Arizona Superintendency (M 0734). (on eight Family History Library films starting with 1694796.)

The Family History Library has microfilm copies of Bureau of Indian Affairs records, such as pre-1940 census, school, and vital records, for a few agencies, including the Fort Apache, Pima, and Yuma. The original documents are at the National Archives— Pacific Region (Laguna Niguel)

↑Hill, Edward E. (comp.). Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1981. (FHL book 970.1 H551g.)

↑Hill, Edward E. (comp.). Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1981. (FHL book 970.1 H551g.)

Hill, Edward E. (comp.). Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1981.

Historical Sketches for Jurisdictional and Subject Headings Used for the Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880. National Archives Microcopy T1105.

Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Washington D.C.:Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #30 1907. Available online.

Isaacs. Katherine M., editor. Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America. U.S. Data Sourcebook, Volume 11 Appendices, Bureau of Indian Affairs List of American Indian Reservations, Appendix E, Indian Reservations. Omnigraphics, Inc., 1991.